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About Dagmar Obert

Dagmar Obert is a designer with over two decades of experience transforming homes into spaces that reflect comfort and elegance. Her sophisticated style emanates from her love of color, forms, and textures. From her choice of fabric to her selection of accent pieces, Dagmar pulls together the look of a room to deliver a statement of class.
Surrounded by family and friends, Dagmar takes delight in turning her own home into a venue where wonderful occasions are made more memorable. Her how-to guides and inspiration articles on decorating and entertaining provide readers with unique ways to create the perfect setting for life’s cherished moments.

The year 2015 presents a number of exciting options for home decorating, especially when it comes to color schemes. The year of the radiant orchid, which served as a calm, distinguished presence in the home, has paved the way for a more earthen hue. As we welcome Pantone’s 2015 Color of the Year, let’s take a look at other palettes that can give your home a fresh and updated look.

Warm Tones

Warmer colors are starting to come back into vogue. A rich, reddish-brown, Marsala is a subtly seductive shade that has some grounding. The Pantone Color Institute describes it as a color that enriches the mind, body, and soul, while exuding confidence and stability. This comes from the fact that is often found underfoot, I imagine.

Super Bowl Sunday is an extraordinary day, with millions of football fans gathering to watch NFL’s championship game. Families and friends flock their television sets to watch and support their teams, making this day a great opportunity to host a party. Here are ideas to make Game Day even more fun and exciting:

Snacks to Whip Up for Game Day

There is no need to cook a sumptuous heavy meal for a Super Bowl party. All you need are finger food and light snacks to munch on while watching the television. Here are some easy-to-prepare snacks that can make your friends and family full and satisfied while glued to the TV:

Chili-Garlic Chicken Wings

The special chili-garlic sauce and green onion garnish makes these chicken wings a real crowd pleaser. Before deep-frying, the wings are generously seasoned with salt and black pepper, and dredged in flour. Get detailed instructions here.

Oregon Tuna Melts

Guests would be raving about the balance of tuna and cheese in these sandwiches. Onions, olive oil, vinegar, basil and crushed red pepper make the tuna salad extra rich. Mustard, mayonnaise and cheese complement all these great flavors. Add a fun football kick to the tuna melts by placing them in football sandwich wraps.

As the holidays conclude, so too does Balsam Hill’s Showroom Sale. As a token of gratitude to all who participated, we would like to look back at what took place last December during the special event dedicated to our Bay Area blogger friends. The night was definitely a night for the holiday-decorating enthusiast, with décor giveaways, a wreath decorating contest, and of course, great wine and good food.

I recently bought a white Christmas tree for our home. Can you give me advice on how I can better care for it so I can keep it looking pristine?

Angelica

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Dear Angelica,

To keep your white Christmas tree clean and pristine, I suggest you store it as soon as the holidays end. This will reduce the amount of dust it can accumulate. However, before you do that, you must first clean the tree and its tips with a feather duster or a bottlebrush. You can use the vacuum to get some dust off, but use it carefully and with caution. Wrap it up in paper then keep it in the Christmas tree storage bag it came in. Make sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions if there are any.